Safety apparatus for setting cage-chairs in mining-shafts.



- Patented July 2, IBM A. CABSTENS &. J. H. HENLEY. SAFETY APPARATUS FOR SETTING CAGE CHAIRS IN II'INING SHAFTS.

(Application filed Sept. 27, 1900.)

2 Sheen-Sheet L (No Model.)

No. 677,437. "Patented July 2, Mil. A. CABSTENS & J. H.- HENLEY.

SAFETY APPARATUS ron semns one: cams m mums SHAFTS.

- (Application filed Sept. 27, 1900.

2 Sheets-Shea} 2.

(No Model.)

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TINTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER OARSTENS AND JAMES ll. HENLEY, OF LEADVILTJE, COLORADO.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR SETTING CAGE-CHAIRS IN MlNlNG-SHAFTS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N o. 67 7,437, dated July 2, 1901.

Application filed September 27,1900. Serial No. 31,320. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that W6,ALEXANDER CARSTENS and JAMES H. HENLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Leadville, in the county of Lake and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Safety Apparatus for Setting Cage-Chairs in Mining-Shafts, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in safety apparatus for ,settin g cage-chairs in mining-shafts, the object of our invention being to effect improvements whereby the cage-chairs at the various levels may be operated bythe engineer stationed at the hoistin g-engine, whereby danger of accidents arising from misplaced cage-chairs is avoided.

Heretofore the cage-chairs which support the cages in the mining-shafts at various levels have been set by persons called cagers stationed at the said levels, the setting of the cage-chairs being entirely out of the control of the engineer who operates the hoistingengine. This mode of setting the cage-chairs is exceedingly dangerous, and it frequently happens that disastrous accidents result from the misplacing of the cage-chairs.

The object of our invention, as hereinbefore indicated, is to provide means whereby the cage-chairs in a mining-shaft at the various levels may be set by the engineer whooperates the hoisting-engine in order to arrest .the descent of a cage and support the same at any desired level.

To this end our invention consists in the combination of cage-chairs, setting devices therefor, and an operating connecting element, as a cord, cable, rod, or the like, between said setting devices, whereby the same may be operated from a point distant from said cage-chairs.

Our invention further consists in the combination of cage-chairs, a rock-shaft, connections between the latter and the cage-chairs whereby motion is communicated from said rock-shaft to said cage-chairs, a setting-lever on said rock-shaft, and an operating element, as a cord or the like, connected to said setting-lever.

Our invention further consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a section of amining-shaft provided with our improved safety apparatus for setting the cage-chairs therein. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a fluid-pressure apparatus for operating the connecting cord or cable which controls the cage-setting devices. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation, partly in section, of a porside of the timber frame in which the cage 7- is hoisted and guided. A setting-lever Sis adapted to operate the rock-shaft, and in the form of our invention herein shown said settin g-lever is formed integrally with one ofthe arms 4 on the rock-shaft. The setting-lever is disposed to one side of the shaft out of the way of the cage. It will be observed by reference to Fig. 3 that the setting-lever and the connections between the same and the chairs normally dispose the latter out of the way of the cage, so that normally the chairs at the various levels in the shaft are out of the way of the cage, and the latter may be raised or lowered from the hoisting-engine, which is indicated at A, Fig. 1, and is of the usual construction or may be of any suitable construction, B representing the hoisting-cable attached to the cage, and 0 representing the direction-sheave above the mouth of the shaft, over which the said hoisting-cable passes.

In connection with the setting-levers at the various levels in the shaft we employ a connecting, controlling, or operating elementsuch as a cord, cable, or rod 9which passes through openings 10 in said setting-levers or is otherwise appropriately connected thereto and connects said setting-levers, so that the latter may be operated in-unison, and said element is provided with stops 11, said stops and levers coacting to raise the levers with the said connecting element, and the latter passes over a direction-sheave 12 and terminates at a suitable point. Preferably the connecting or controlling element terminates at the hoisting-engine, where it may be conveniently operated by the engineer in charge of the hoisting-engine, and hence the chair-setting devices are controlled and operated from a point distant from the levels at which they are situated, and the engineer when lowering or hoisting a cage by setting the chairs may cause the same to support the cage at any desired level.

The chairs being normally out of the way of the cage, so that the latter is free to be raised or lowered, and the cage-chairs being controlled and operated by the engineer at the hoisting-engine, all danger arising from misplaced cage-chairs is obviated, as will be readily understood.

Any suitable means may be employed for operating the controlling and connecting element. In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings we illustrate a suitable fluid-pressure mechanism D, which comprises, essentially, a cylinder a, a piston b therein, a valve 0 to admit steam or other fluid under pressure to said cylinder and exhaust the same therefrom,

and a piston-rod cl, the head 6 thereof being adapted for the attachment thereto of the operating or controlling connecting element.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. The combination of a cage and a hoisting-engine therefor, cage-chairs at various levels to support said cage, setting devices for said cagechairs, and an operating element, as a cord or the like, connected to said setting devices and extending to a point near said hoisting-engine,for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.-

2. The combination of a cage and means to raise and lower the same, a series of cagechairs at various levels to support said cage, each of said cage-chairs having a setting-lever, an operating-cord, connected to the said setting-levers, and means to actuate said cord, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures 

